This invention relates to methods of folding outserts which have printed information, such as instructions and/or warnings, relating to pharmaceutical products.
Outserts are used to convey information to purchasers and users of pharmaceutical products. The information printed on an outsert typically includes instructions for use of a pharmaceutical product and medical warnings relating to the product. The outsert typically accompanies the product, such as by being affixed directly to the container in which the pharmaceutical product is provided or by being enclosed within a cardboard carton in which the pharmaceutical container is packaged.
FIG. 1A illustrates an example of an outsert 10 constructed in accordance with the prior art which has open edges 12 about its periphery. Under certain circumstances, the open edges 12 of the outsert will tend to cause bottlenecks, or other manufacturing yield problems, with respect to the overall high-speed manufacturing environment that is associated with manufacturing the outsert, or with respect to the specific in-line packaging equipment that is utilized.
A method of forming outserts is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,812,195 to Michael Vijuk. In that patent, outserts are manufactured by folding a relatively long sheet a number of times in a direction perpendicular to the length of the sheet and then cutting the folded sheet a number of times in a direction perpendicular to the folding direction to make a number of individual outserts. The result of the folding and cutting steps is a xe2x80x9cribbonxe2x80x9d style outsert like the one shown in FIG. 1B.
FIG. 1B illustrates a conventional ribbon style outsert 14 constructed in accordance with the prior art and which has limited copyspace due to its overall shape, design and method of manufacture. The outsert 14 has a tail portion 16 which, prior to opening of the outsert by the purchaser of the associated pharmaceutical product, is glued to an interior portion of the outsert. The tail portion 16 consists of a single sheet having an unfolded, exterior sheet edge which lies in a direction parallel to the folding direction.
Increasing the length of a ribbon style outsert will increase manufacturing yield problems in a high-speed manufacturing environment (that is associated with the manufacturing the outsert) as the thickness of the outsert increases and the number of folds with a thicker outsert are attempted, all of which will tend to cause bottlenecks with respect to the dedicated or particular in-line folding and packaging equipment that is utilized during the manufacturing of the outsert.
The present invention is directed to a method of folding a sheet having printed information thereon for use in the formation of an outsert for providing information to the user of a product. The method includes the steps of: (a) folding the sheet by making a plurality of first folds to form a first folded article, the first folds being parallel to each other and parallel to a first direction; (b) folding the first folded article by making a second fold in the first folded article to form a second folded article, the second fold being parallel to a second direction which is perpendicular to the first direction, the second folded article having a first end with no unfolded exterior sheet edges and a second end; (c) folding the second folded article by making a third fold to form a third folded article, the third fold being parallel to the second direction and being made so that the second end of the second folded article is disposed between the first end of the second folded article and the third fold, the third folded article having a planar portion having a first thickness and being disposed between the second end of the third folded article and the third fold; (d) folding the third folded article by making a fourth fold in the planar portion of the third folded article to form a fourth folded article, the fourth fold being parallel to the second direction and being made so that the third fold is disposed between the first end of the second folded article and the fourth fold and so that the fourth folded article has a planar portion having a second thickness being twice the first thickness; and (e) folding the fourth folded article by making a fifth fold to form a fifth folded article, the fifth fold being parallel to the second direction and being made so that the fifth folded article has no unfolded exterior sheet edges which lie in a direction parallel to the second direction.
In the above method, step (a) may include the step of making a plurality of accordion-type folds; step (b) may include the step of folding the first folded article in half by making the second fold in the middle of the first folded article; and the step (d) may include the step of folding the planar portion of the third folded article in half by making the fourth fold.
The invention is also directed to articles folded in accordance with the above methods.
The features and advantages of the invention will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art in view of the detailed description of the preferred embodiments, which is made with reference to the drawings, a brief description of which is provided below.